It has been a while since I’ve taken a stroll through the Addison Community Garden. This is the perfect time of year to go since it’s spring, and everything is blooming. The garden is bursting with color compared to the lifeless months of winter. There are many new vegetables planted in the rented plots and new growth everywhere. But in one spot, amid the leafy greens of vegetables are colorful flowers. They look like poppies and apparently have taken such a stronghold in the plot that they have jumped to the gravel path and are blooming there too. I’m not sure if they are poppies, but that will be the topic of this blog post. Growing up, I do remember the paper poppies distributed on Memorial and Veteran’s Day to raise money, but that is the closest I have come to a real poppy other than using poppy seeds in cooking. I do know that eating a poppy seed bagel or any other food with poppy seeds before a drug test used to give you a positive result; testing procedures may have changed by now. At any rate, the poppy is a beautiful and fascinating flower. Let’s find out more about it.
According to Wikipedia, a poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colorful flowers. One species of poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the source of the narcotic drug opium which contains powerful medicinal alkaloids such as morphine and has been used since ancient times as an analgesic and narcotic medicinal and recreational drug. It also produces edible seeds. Following the trench warfare in the poppy fields of Flanders, Belgium during World War I, poppies have become a symbol of remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime.
Papaver rhoeas or common poppy
Papaver rhoeas, with common names including common poppy, corn poppy, corn rose, field poppy, Flanders poppy and red poppy, is an annual herbaceous species of flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae. It is notable as an agricultural weed — hence the common names including "corn" and "field" — and after World War I as a symbol of dead soldiers.
Before the advent of herbicides, P. rhoeas was sometimes abundant in agricultural fields. The corn poppy and its cultivars such as the Shirley poppy are widely grown in gardens.
Poppies are a prominent feature of "In Flanders Fields" by Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, one of the most frequently quoted English-language poems composed during the First World War. During the 20th century, the wearing of a poppy at and before Remembrance Day (sometimes known informally as Poppy Day) each year became an established custom in English-speaking western countries.[4] It is also used at some other dates in some countries, such as at appeals for Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand.
This poppy appears on a number of postage stamps, coins, banknotes and national flags, including:
- Two hundred lei Romanian banknote.
- 2012 Canadian 20-dollar note and 2001 Canadian 10-dollar note.
- Some commemorative Canadian 25-cent coins in 2004 and 2008.
- Great Britain commemorative stamps 2000-2009: 2007 Lest we forget - 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.
Papaver somniferum or opium poppy
Papaver somniferum, commonly known as the opium poppy or breadseed poppy, is the species of plant from which both opium and poppy seeds are derived and is also a valuable ornamental plant, grown in gardens. Its native range is probably the eastern Mediterranean, but is now obscured by ancient introductions and cultivation, being naturalized across much of Europe and Asia.
This poppy is grown as an agricultural crop on a large scale, for one of three primary purposes. The first is to produce seeds that are eaten by humans, known commonly as poppy seed. The second is to produce opium for use mainly by the pharmaceutical industry. The third is to produce other alkaloids, mainly thebaine and oripavine, that are processed by the pharmaceutical industry into drugs such as hydrocodone and oxycodone. Each of these goals has special breeds that are targeted at one of these businesses, and breeding efforts — including biotechnological ones — are continually underway. A comparatively small amount of Papaver somniferum is also produced commercially for ornamental purposes.
The common name "opium poppy" is increasingly a misnomer as many varieties have been bred that do not produce a significant quantity of opium. The cultivar 'Sujata' produces no latex at all. Breadseed poppy is more accurate as a common name today because all varieties of Papaver somniferum produce edible seeds. This differentiation has strong implications for legal policy surrounding the growing of this plant.
Use of the opium poppy predates written history. The making and use of opium was known to the ancient Minoans. Its sap was later named opion by the ancient Greeks, from where it gained its modern name of opium.
Evidence of the early domestication of opium poppy has been discovered through small botanical remains found in regions of the Mediterranean and west of the Rhine, predating circa 5000 BCE. These samples found in various Neolithic sites show the incredibly early cultivation and natural spread of the plant throughout western Europe.
Opium was used for treating asthma, stomach illnesses and bad eyesight.
Opium became a major colonial commodity, moving legally and illegally through trade networks on the Indian subcontinent, Colonial America, Qing China and others. Members of the East India Co. saw the opium trade as an investment opportunity beginning in 1683. In 1773, the Governor of Bengal established a monopoly on the production of Bengal opium, on behalf of the East India Co. administration. The cultivation and manufacture of Indian opium was further centralized and controlled through a series of acts issued between 1797 and 1949. East India Co. merchants balanced an economic deficit from the importation of Chinese tea by selling Indian opium which was smuggled into China in defiance of Qing government bans. This trade led to the First and Second Opium Wars.
Many modern writers, particularly in the 19th century, have written on the opium poppy and its effects, notably Thomas de Quincey in “Confessions of an English Opium Eater.”
The French Romantic composer Hector Berlioz used opium for inspiration, subsequently producing his “Symphonie Fantastique.” In this work, a young artist overdoses on opium and experiences a series of visions of his unrequited love.
The Drug Enforcement Administration raided Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello estate in 1987. It removed the poppy plants that had been planted continually there since Jefferson was alive and using opium from them. Employees of the foundation also destroyed gift shop items like shirts depicting the poppy and packets of the heirloom seed.
Papaver orientale or Oriental poppy
Papaver orientale, the Oriental poppy, is a perennial flowering plant native to the Caucasus, northeastern Turkey and northern Iran.
Oriental poppies grow a mound of leaves that are hairy and finely dissected in spring. They gather energy and bloom in mid-summer. After flowering the foliage dies away entirely, a property that allows their survival in the summer drought of Central Asia. Gardeners can place late-developing plants nearby to fill the developing gap.
Papaver nudicaule or Iceland poppy
Papaver nudicaule, the Iceland poppy, is a boreal flowering plant. Equivalence with Papaver croceum has been contested. Native to subpolar regions of Asia and North America, and the mountains of Central Asia as well as temperate China — but not in Iceland — Iceland poppies are hardy but short-lived perennials, often grown as biennials, that yield large, papery, bowl-shaped, lightly fragrant flowers supported by hairy, one-foot, curved stems among feathery blue-green foliage 1-6 inches long. They were first described by botanists in 1759. The wild species blooms in white or yellow and is hardy from USDA Zones 3a-10b. The Latin specific epithet “nudicaule” means “with bare stems.”
Papaver cambricum or Welsh poppy
Papaver cambricum, the Welsh poppy, is a perennial flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae. It has yellow to orange flowers and is widely grown as a garden plant. It is a native of damp, rocky sites in upland areas of Western Europe from the British Isles to the Iberian Peninsula. It has been used since 2006 as the basis for the logo of the Welsh nationalist and social democratic political party Plaid Cymru.
Eschscholzia californica or California poppy
Eschscholzia californica, the California poppy, golden poppy, California sunlight or cup of gold, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papveraceaea, native to the United States and Mexico. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant flowering in summer, with showy cup-shaped flowers in brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow — occasionally pink. It is also used as food or a garnish. Eschscholzia californica was the first named species of the genus Eschscholzia, named by the German botanist Adelbert von Chamisso after the Baltic German botanist Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, his friend and colleague on Otto von Kotzabue’s scientific expedition to California and the greater Pacific circa 1810 aboard the Russian ship Rurik.
During the 1890s Sarah Plummer Lemmon advocated for the adoption of the golden poppy as the state flower of California, eventually writing the bill passed by the California Legislature and signed by Gov. George Pardee in 1903. As the official state flower of California, it is pictured on welcome signs along highways entering California and on official Scenic Route signs.
Meconopsis nepalensis or Nepal poppy
Meconopsis napaulensis, the Nepal poppy or satin poppy, is a plant of the family Papaveraceae. The plant contains beta-carbolines, which — in doses high enough — act as a psychedelic drug. However, its phytochemistry remains predominantly unstudied. It is only yellow in flower, with a small geographical range in central Nepal.
Glaucium flavum or yellow hornpoppy
Glaucium flavum — yellow hornpoppy, sea-poppy or yellow horned poppy — is native to Northern Africa, Macaronesia, temperate zones in Western Asia and the Caucasus, as well as Europe. The plant grows on the seashore and is never found inland. All parts of the plant, including the seeds, are toxic. It is classed as a noxious weed in some areas of North America, where it is an introduced species. It is grown in gardens as a short-lived perennial but usually grown as a biennial.
It produces an orange foul smelling sap, if cut open. All parts of the plant, including the seeds, are toxic, and can cause a wide range of symptoms including brain damage — if eaten and respiratory failure, resulting in death. Glaucine is the main alkaloid component in Glaucium flavum. Glaucine has bronchodilator and anti-inflammatory effects and is used medically as an antitussive and as a recreational drug in some countries. Glaucine may produce side effects such as sedation, fatigue and a hallucinogenic effect characterized by colorful visual images.
It is referenced in various poems, like the one below from “Shorter Poems” by Robert Bridges, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom.
A poppy grows upon the shore, Bursts her twin cups in summer late: Her leaves are glaucus-green and hoar, Her petals yellow, delicate. She has no lovers like the red, That dances with the noble corn: Her blossoms on the waves are shed, Where she stands shivering and forlorn.
Glaucium corniculatum or blackspot hornpoppy
Glaucium corniculatum, the blackspot hornpoppy or red horned-poppy, is a species of the genus Glaucium in the poppy family. It is an annual flowering plant, occurring in southern Europe, and grows up to one foot high. The stem and leaves are hairy; the capsule fruit is covered with stiff hair. The flower is red, with a black spot on the base of the tepal bract, which has a yellow margin around it. The flower appears from June until August.
Aregemone or prickly poppy
Argemone is a genus of flowering plants in the family Papaveraceae commonly known as prickly poppy. There are about 32 species native to the Americas and Hawaii. The generic name originated as ἀργεμώνη in Greek and was applied by Dioscorides to a poppy-like plant used to treat cataracts.
Romneya coulteri or California tree poppy
Romneya coulteri, the Coulter's Matilija poppy or California tree poppy, is native to southern California and Baja California. It grows in dry canyons in chaparral and coastal sage scrub plant communities, sometimes in areas recently bruned. It is a popular ornamental plant, kept for its large, showy flowers.
It is named after Irish astronomer John Thomas Romney Robinson. The specific epithet “coulteri” commemorates Thomas Coulter, an Irish botanist and explorer.
This is a shrub which may exceed 7 feet in height, its woody stem growing from a network of rhizomes. The gray-green, waxy-textured leaves are each divided into a few lance-shaped lobes, the blades growing up to 7.8 inches long. The inflorescence is a large, solitary flower with six crinkly white petals each up to 4 inches long. At the center of the flower is a cluster of many yellow stamens. The fruit is a bristly capsule, 1–2 inches long, containing many tiny seeds.
While beautiful, this plant often grows aggressively once planted. It spread clonally by underground rhizomes and can pop up several feet away from the original plant.
This plant bears the largest flowers of any species native to California, rivaled only by Hibiscus lasiocarpos. It was nominated for the honor of California state flower in 1890, but the California poppy won the title in a landslide.
In cultivation in the UK, Romneya coulteri and the cultivar ‘White Cloud’ have gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.
Uses
The opium poppy is widely cultivated, and its worldwide production is monitored by international agencies. It is used for production of dried latex and opium, the principal precursor of narcotic and analgesic opiates such as morphine, heroin and codeine. Poppy seeds are rich in oil, carbohydrates, calcium and protein. Poppy oil is often used as cooking oil, salad dressing oil or in products such as margarine. Poppy oil can also be added to spices for cakes or breads. Poppy products are also used in different paints, varnishes and some cosmetics.
Advertising
In Mexico, Grupo Modelo, the makers of Corona beer, used red poppy flowers in most of its advertising images until the 1960s.
Artificial poppies called "Buddy Poppies" are used in the veterans' aid campaign by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which provides money to the veterans who assemble the poppies and various aid programs to veterans and their families.
Symbolism
Poppies have long been used as a symbol of sleep, peace, and death — sleep because the opium extracted from them is a sedative and death because of the common blood-red color of the red poppy in particular. In Greek and Roman myths, poppies were used as offerings to the dead. Poppies used as emblems on tombstones symbolize eternal sleep. This symbolism was evoked in the children's novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” in which a magical poppy field threatened to make the protagonists sleep forever. A second interpretation of poppies in classical mythology is that the bright scarlet color signifies a promise of resurrection after death.
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